Cooksville is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in the Town of Porter,

Rock County, Wisconsin Rock County is a county (United States), county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 163,687. Its county seat is Janesville, Wisconsin, Janesville. Rock County comprises the Janes ...

, United States.

History

The land where Cooksville lies was originally purchased by the New Hampshire lawyer and statesman,

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the 14th and 19th United States Secretary of State, U.S. secretary o ...

, for $1.25 an acre. Webster also represented other investors in the land purchase. Early pioneers were established by 1837. Many of the original settlers of the village were from New England and left their imprint on the town and village architecture. Brick homes stand on three sides of a common or square, typical of the New England village tradition. By 1976 there were only 80 residents, half the population of the town in 1850. "Traditional Cooksville has remained the same, untouched by progress. Cooksville residents hope it will continue to be known as a town that time forgot."

Community

Cooksville was home to the Cooksville Store, one of the oldest continuously operating general stores in the state of

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. The Miller House, located in the community, is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Notable people

Peter Egan Peter Joseph Egan (born 28 September 1946) is a British actor. He is known for television roles including Hogarth in '' Big Breadwinner Hog'' (1969), the future King George IV in ''Prince Regent'' (1979); smooth neighbour Paul Ryman in the sitco ...

, ''Road & Track'' and ''Cycle World'' columnist * Gideon Ellis Newman, Wisconsin State Representative *

John L. Savage John Lucian Savage (December 25, 1879 – December 28, 1967) was an American civil engineer. Among the 60 major dams he supervised the designs for, he is best known for Hoover Dam, Shasta Dam, Parker Dam and Grand Coulee Dam in the United State ...

, engineer * John Wilde, painter

References

External links

History of Cooksville
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Wisconsin Unincorporated communities in Rock County, Wisconsin